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Democrats picked their slate of congressional candidates in California on Tuesday from an enormous pack of contenders, in some cases resolving chaotic primaries by the narrowest of margins. And for all the energy on the left, Democrats appear to have largely settled on a mainstream set of candidates to contest key Republican-held House seats.

California House candidates arranged by their ideology scores

Won
Lost

Note: Three candidates more liberal than would fit on this chart did not advance to the general election. Ideology scores are based on the Database on Ideology, Money in Politics and Elections. Scores are determined using a statistical method created by Adam Bonica at Stanford University, based on the ideological bent of his or her political donors. All charts only include candidates with at least 15 distinct donors.

Most candidates who won in the primaries appear close in their views to the average Democratic candidate in California, while fewer winners are farther to the left, according to a methodology developed by Adam Bonica, a professor of political science at Stanford University. In some districts, where Democrats feared getting shut out of the general election under California’s “top two” system of open primaries, voters may have put tactics over ideology in casting their ballots.

Now, as state officials continue to count what appears to be well over one million outstanding ballots, Democrats appear set to test whether conventionally liberal candidates — not left-wing activists — can make deep inroads in moderate areas that have historically supported Republicans. They are especially focused on seven Republican-held districts that Hillary Clinton carried in the 2016 presidential race.

10th District

Note: Ms. Nygard withdrew from the race, but her name still appeared on the ballot.

Democrats seem to have selected Josh Harder, a venture capitalist, as their candidate to oppose Representative Jeff Denham, a Central Valley Republican who has clashed with hardliners in his own party on the issue of immigration.

Mr. Harder appears to be a tick to the left of Michael Eggman, who was also in the primary and who challenged Mr. Denham in 2014 and 2016. Mr. Harder has endorsed a massive expansion of the health care coverage provided by Medicare. But he also presented a fresher face to Democratic voters than Mr. Eggman, after his two previous campaigns. Full results »

21st District

Perhaps the least-complicated primary in California, for Democrats, was the one for Representative David Valadao’s seat.

The party persuaded T.J. Cox, an engineer who originally planned to challenge Mr. Denham, to run for Mr. Valadao’s seat instead. He made it to the general election without a fight, sparing him some of the leftward pressure Democrats in tough primaries felt from their own party’s base.

Democrats acknowledge that Mr. Cox is largely undefined in the district, which gives him an opening to define himself in a broadly appealing way, but also puts a lot of pressure on him to do so quickly.

25th District

Representative Steve Knight is among the most endangered Republicans in the state and he will likely face a solidly liberal Democratic challenger in Katie Hill, a 30-year-old nonprofit executive.

Ms. Hill appears to have defeated Bryan Caforio, a similarly left-of-center Democrat, in the open primary, and she has endorsed progressive positions, including an assault weapons ban and a federal “Medicare for All” initiative.

But Republicans worry that Ms. Hill’s profile as a youthful political newcomer may make her more difficult to attack than Mr. Caforio, a trial lawyer who had run for office before. Full results »

39th District

Both parties settled on relatively moderate candidates to contest this open seat, long held by Representative Ed Royce, a Republican who is retiring.

On the Republican side, Young Kim, a former state legislator who is a political protégé of Mr. Royce, earned the most support from Republicans even though she leans more toward the political center than the average G.O.P. candidate. (The Republican runner-up was a Trump-style immigration hawk who would have struggled in the general election.)

Among Democrats, it was Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran and former Republican, who prevailed. Mr. Cisneros, a favorite of the party establishment, defeated two more activist-oriented Democrats in this diverse but closely divided district.

Mr. Cisneros and Ms. Kim were strongly favored by national leaders in their respective parties, who saw them as having appealing personal stories and policy views that are well suited for the area. Full results »

45th District

For the seat held by Representative Mimi Walters, Democrats picked a candidate, law professor Katie Porter, who campaigned in more bluntly liberal tones than her leading rival, Dave Min, also a law professor, though their scores in the Stanford rubric are essentially indistinguishable.

Ms. Porter, who was backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, strongly endorsed single payer-style health care — a position Mr. Min declined to take. That approach plainly helped Ms. Porter win the primary, but she may have a trickier challenge in the general election and Republicans were pleased to see her outflank Mr. Min. Full results »

48th District

Note: Mr. Kotick, Ms. Payne and Ms. Oatman withdrew from the race, but their names still appeared on the ballot.

It may take days to determine which Democrat will challenge Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a vulnerable Republican with an eclectic set of policy views.

But one way or another, the Democratic candidate will be a wealthy white man with views that line up with the party average. Harley Rouda, a real estate executive, aligned himself more closely with activist Democrats than Hans Keirstead, a stem-cell scientist, and appears to have attracted somewhat more liberal support as a result.

But both men have broadly overlapping views on health care, guns, immigration and other issues. Less certain is whether those policy positions can win majority support in a traditionally right-leaning part of Orange County, even against a flawed incumbent like Mr. Rohrabacher. Full results »

49th District

In one of two open seats, where both Democrats and Republicans had wildly fluid primary elections, it appears that the two parties selected candidates somewhat farther from center than the average candidate in their parties.

Republicans picked Diane Harkey, a conservative state official who has endorsed a border wall, while on the Democratic side, Mike Levin, a environmental lawyer, is poised to advance to the general election. This upscale, San Diego-area district has moved toward Democrats in recent years, and Republicans acknowledge Mr. Levin’s overall profile may be a good match for the race. Full results »